You can actively increase the security of your webmail, too. You do not necessarily have to install a conventional email client to send and receive email. For many providers, a browser is enough.
Using online email services definitely has its advantages. The browser allows you to access your email with the utmost flexibility, whether on the go with your smartphone or tablet, or at home with your laptop or desktop computer. On mobile devices, you are advised to use the apps offered by your provider for accessing email. They usually offer much better protection than if you accessed it in your browser. You do not need to install any software, and the provider has generally already incorporated virus protection. It highlights suspect file attachments or may even block incoming ones. Despite this, you should not be careless about it. Secure your communication by using the browser for sending email, too.
- Choosing an “E-Mail Made in Germany” (German only) partner is your best bet. These providers encrypt email transferred between the different servers. You can tell this from a label indicating this when you are reading a new message. What’s more, the partners maintain servers in Germany with high data protection standards.
- Use an SSL connection: Access the provider’s server with a secure connection. To do this, access the page in your browser with “https”. If access is truly encrypted, the software will display the indicator for a secure connection.
- A VPN connection is best on the road: Want to read your email in a café or on the train? If you want to use public Wi-Fi, use a VPN tunneling connection, which is much more secure.
- Only send important messages in encrypted form: Send confidential messages and, above all, file attachments only when they are encrypted. External programs like PGP can also encrypt text from the clipboard.
